Pile fabric knitting mechanism



Oct. 20, 1964 J. H. HILL v 3,

' PILE maze KNITTING MECHANISM Filed May 18, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNE Y 1964 J. H. HILL PILE FABRIC KNITTING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 18, 1960 INVENTOR. JOHN H. HILL.

' ZL ZMM f A TTORNE Y Oct. 20, 1964 J. H. HILL 3,153,335

PILE FABRIC KNITTING MECHANISM Filed :May 18, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y JOHN H. HILL.

Oct. 20, 1964 J. H. HILL j 3,153,335

PILE FABRIC KNITTING MECHANISM I Filed May 18, 1960 4 Sheets-:Sheet 4uvvszvroz JOHN H. HILL ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,153,335 FILEFABRIC KNITTING MEQHANHSM John H. Hill, Wayne, Pa, assignor to Wildrnan.lacquard (10., Norristown, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May18, 196i), Ser. No. 36,022 3 Claims. (Ci. 66-9) This invention relatesto a knitting machine, and, in particular, to a mechanism for knittinghigh pile fabrics. It is the general object of the invention to providean apparatus for increasing the patterning possibilities of the pileyarn is knitted high pile fabrics.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a mechanism for premittingselective feeding to the knitting instrumentalities at each knittingstation of a multi-feed high pile knitting machine, either one of twopile fibers differing in their physical characteristics.

It is a further object to provide for a multi-feed high pile knittingmachine pattern controlled means for automatically changing from onetype to another the pile fibers being fed at each feeding station,whereby, for example, many different designs may be produced in thepile, such asplaids, checkerboards, alternating short and long fibers tosimilate-natural furs, etc.

It is a further object to provide a novel carding means for feeding pilefibers to the knitting instrumentalities, said carding means including amain carding cylinder and two vertically displaced means for feedingseparate fibers to said cylinder, whereby no unintentional crossover offibers between said feeding means can take place.

It is a further object to accomplish the changeover with simple andinexpensive means and with clear lines of distinction between thechanges.

Other objects will become apparent from the following disclosure.

High pile fabrics are those in'which a base fabric is supplemented byfibers incorporated in such manner that the fibers are drawn into tuftsat each stitch to project to at least one side of the fabric. The pilethus formed is much longer than anything accomplished by way of combing,napping or by forming terry loops which may or may not be cut. Ofcourse, the pile is usually sheared and treated by processes whichenhance its appearance and by which it may be made to resemble veryclosely several natural materials.

One limitation thus far imposed upon results of this knitting is thatthe raw stock employed, in roving form or otherwise, has beencontinuously fed to the knitting instrumentalities, usually by way ofcarding means, and unless one were to resort to the highly impracticalpossibi ity of feeding a variegated roving, the effect is one in whichno variation can be realized except in the treatment of the fabric aftercompletion of knitting. In United States Patent No. 1,894,596 anapparatus is disclosed for selectively feeding either of two differenttypes of fibers to the knitting mechanism which essentially comprisestwo complete carding means mounted in tandem fashion, the dolfer ofeither of which may be elevated out of active position to permit theother thereof to feed fibers to the knitting instrumentalities. However,fibers are continuously fed to both carding mechanisms so that fiberswill build up excessively on the inactive dotfer.

According to the present invention, two separate sources of supply ofpile fiber stock are fed each to separate vertically displaced pairs offeed rolls mounted adjacent a common carding means adapted to feed pilefibers to the knitting instrumentalities. Pattern controlled meansoperate in a predetermined sequence to effect operation of ice may befed to the knitting instrumentalities for spaced periods and a secondtype during the intermediate periods at one or more feeding stations.Where more than one feeding station is employed, four different colorsmay be fed, for example, at two feeding stations to produce plaidpatterns with selective control of needles. The vertical displacement ofthe two pairs of feeding rolls assures that there will be no intermixingof fibers between the two pairs as might be the case where the two pairsare coaxially located.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying figures of drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a knitting machine insection and showing a carding unit embodying the present inventionapplied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a pair of feeding rolls and the associatedspring clutch means for selectively driving said pair;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the control mechanism for operating the springclutch assemblies;

FIG. 4- is an elevational view of the control mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4 andincluding a section of a pattern chain;

FIG. 6 is a view as seen from the right side of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a partial view of the structure of FIG. 1 as seen from theopposite side thereof.

In FIG. 1 a portion of a rotary needle cylinder is shown at iii forminga part of a conventional knitting machine having a circular base 11,sinker head 12, needles 13 and sinkers 14. Cams in cam sections 15 andin sinker cap 16 cause the needles and sinkers, respectively, tofunction in known manner. A yarn is fed to the needles through a tubularor other guide 17 and that yarn is knitted to form a base fabric, asherein described, a jersey fabric.

On a base 18, attached to circular base 11, is mounted a card mechanismgenerally denoted by the arrow 19 and having among other parts, a cardcylinder 26 rotatable in the direction shown by the arrow, a licker-incylinder 21, worker rolls 2 2, 23, and 24, 25, which constitute twogroups of such worker means. In some instances these worker rolls may beeliminated. The licker-in cylinder 21 is driven in the direction of thearrow in FIG. 7 by any conventional and wellknown means, such, forexample, as that disclosed in applicants co-pending application SerialNo. 707,333, filed January 6, 1958, now Patent No. 2,971,357. Finally, adolfer cylinder 26 removes the fiber from the card cylinder 2% and asthe books of needles 13 enter the card clothing they take a tuft offibers in addition to the base yarn and then knit, the fibers being castoff as pile at the back of the fabric in simple, single-faced pileknitting. A number of air nozzles 27, 28 assist by projecting airstreams to cause the fibers to appear cleanly at a single face of thefabric. a

The mechanism described to this point is largely old an well known;however, according to the practice followed to date, a roving or silverconstituting a supply of fibers had been fed continuously at a givenfeeding station and no satisfactory and practicalmechanism had beendevised for feeding two different rovings alternately at the samestation to produce patterned effects.

According to the invention the above is made possible by providing twoseparate pairs of feeding rolls adjacent the licker-in cylinder at eachfeeding station, one of these pairs being shown at 29, 29" in FIG. 2.Pattern con trolled means is provided for rotating either pair of therolls and simultaneously to render the other pair inactive, so that twodifferent types of fiber may alternately be fed, one by each pair offeeding rolls, in continuous fashion to the main carding drum. Thatmechanism will now be described.

An annular supporting member 36 is suitably attached to the under sideof the circular base 11 and carries therein a ring 31 which extendssubstantially completely about the periphery of the base. The ring isslidable within the member 36 so that it may be oscillated periodicallyin a manner and for reasons to be described. Fixed to the ringimmediately beneath the carding mechanism 19 is a pair of spacedcomplementary cam members 32, 33 (FIG. 3) defining therebetween a campath having two interconnected sections 34 and 35 spaced at differentradial distances outwardly from the center of the needle cylinder.

A pattern mechanism generally indicated by the arrow 36 effects periodicoscillation of the ring first in one direction and then in the other.That mechanism includes a supporting framework 37 suitably attached atthe side of the knitting machine to a vertical support 38. A ratchetwheel 39 is fixed to a stud 40 freely mounted in the framework 37. Alsofixed to the stud is a pair of adjacent sprocket wheels, one of which isshown at 41 and around the circumference of each of which passes aseparate pattern chain 42, 43. A pawl 44 is connected at its lower endto one end of an actuating member 4-5 pivoted at 46 to an arm 47 and hasrotatably attached to its opposite end a roller 48. A cam 49 having aninclined bottom edge is fixed to a rotatable take-down support 50. Itwill be evident from the above that each revolution of the sup port 50will produce an upward deflection of the pawl 44 to move the patternchains in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 4 and a distanceequivalent to one tooth of the ratchet wheel. The weight of the pawleffects its movement in the opposite direction although this may besupplemented by a spring for more positive action.

The pattern chains 42 and 43 are comprised of alternating sections ofhigh links 51 and low links 52. A Y-shaped arm 53 is pivoted at 54- andincludes a pair of followers 55 and 56 having chain engaging rollers 57and 53, respectively, attached to the ends thereof, the former adaptedto engage the chain 42 and the latter to engage chain 43. The arm 53 isconnected by means of a pair of linking rods R and R to the ring 31 asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The two pattern chains are so arranged thatwhenever high links on one of the chains affect the roller associatedtherewith, low links on the second chain affect its roller, and viceversa, so that the arm 53 will effect a definite movement of the ringfirst in one direction and then in the opposite.

As shown in FIG. 3, two or more carding mechanisms may be provided for asingle knitting machine, reference numerals in primes indicating membersat a second station 19' similar to those in the carding unit 19.

Feed rolls 29, 29" are supported on rotatable studs 59 and 60,respectively, (FIG. 2), the latter being extended outwardly as at 61 andhaving keyed thereto at 61' spring clutch assembly including a steppedsleeve 62. A bearing 63 encompasses the outer portion of the sleeve anda further sleeve 64 encompasses that bearing and is keyed at 65 to agear 66. A coil spring 67 overlies a portion of sleeves 62 and 64 whilea third sleeve 68 encloses the spring and has one end of the latterfixed thereto at 69. The sleeve 68 has a shoulder 76 formed on the outersurface thereof.

A second pair of feed rolls 71, 71 (see FIG. 7) is mounted adjacent thepair29, 29" and in a counterclockwise dircction with respect to thelicker-in cylinder. A spring clutch assembly identical to that abovedescribed is mounted on the stud 72 and includes a sleeve 73 having ashoulder 74, a gear 75 being adapted to drive that clutch assembly. Thegears 66 and 75 are driven continuously, while the card is in operation,in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7. Bevel gear B1 iscontinuously driven in any known manner and in turn drives bevel gear B2and worm W, as shown in FIG. 7 and also in applicants application No.707,333 abovementioned. Worm W in turn drives worm gear WG on which ismounted a spur gear 86. The latter drives gear 75, which by way ofpinion 76 drives the gear 66, all as is evident in FIG. 7.

Reference to FIG. 2 will indicate the manner of functioning of eachspring clutch assembly. Sleeve 64, being keyed at 65 to, gear 66, iscontinuously driven with the latter. The spring 67 partly overliessleeve 62 and partly sleeve 64. Rotation of the latter tends to rotatethe unstressed spring in a winding direction thereby to tighten itagainst sleeve 62 and to cause that sleeve to rotate in the samedirection. However, if the end 69 of the spring is held in a fixedposition by means of member 87 acting against shoulder 70, then sleeve64 rotates freely and cannot tighten up on the spring so that notorsional forces are transmitted to sleeve 62. The latter is in turnkeyed to shaft 61 at 61 to transmit rotational forces to the shaft. Asimilar clutch mechanism is disclosed in re-issue patent Re. 25,229,dated August 21, 1962, to which reference may be had.

A linkage mechanism now to be described responds to oscillation of thering 31 to effect engagement of one spring clutch and disengagement ofthe other so that one pair only of the feed rolls is rotating at anygiven time while the other pair is stationary during that time, thecycle being reversed with each subsequent oscillation of the ring.

A bracket 78 is fixed to the base 18 and has a slot provided therein inwhich a member 79 of rectangular cross section is slidably engaged sothat it is movable in a radial direction with respect to the needlecylinder. A follower 86 is fixed to the inner end of the rod to beaffected by cams 32 and 33 to be moved between the solid and dotted linepositions in FIG. 7 upon oscillation of the ring. A linking member 81,pivoted at 82 to an arm 83 extending outwardly from the bracket 73, hasone end connected to the member 79 and its other end to one end of astop member 84 pivoted at 85 and whose opposite end is engageable withthe shoulder 74. An adjustable link 86 interconnects the lower half ofstop member 84 with a second similar stop member 87, pivoted at 83 andadapted periodically to engage and disengage the shoulder 70.

In operation, rotation of the cam 49 in timed relation with the needlecylinder advances the pattern chain periodically by means of the pawland ratchet wheel. As the rollers 57 and 58 are affected by a changefrom one type of link to another, the ring 31 is rotated a suficientamount via arm 53 to move the follower 80 between the cam paths 34 and35 thereby to effect a radial movement on the member 79. When the latteris in the solid line position of FIG. 7, the upper set of feed rolls arerotated through the spring clutch assembly thereof while the lower setis stationary. Oscillation of the ring 31 in a clockwise direction asviewed in FIG. 3 reverses the action. In this manner two different typesof pile fibers may be fed separately to the knitting instrumentalitiesin any desired sequence to produce patterning effects.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to beunderstood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number ofways. This invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precisedetails de scribed, but is intended to embrace all variations andmodifications thereof falling within the invention and the scope of theclaims.

I claim:

1. In a frame supported fabric knitting machine; a constantly rotatablecylinder equipped with reciprocable hooked needles; a carding headhaving a licker-in roll, and a rotatable doffer roll, said doffer rollhaving clothing positioned to be raked by hooks of said needles and toreceive fibres from said licker-in roll; a plurality of fibre feed meanspositioned at spaced stations peripherally of the licker-in roll forfeed of fibre thereto; and power connections for constant rotation ofthe licker-in roll, said power connections including means for drivingthe fibre feed means alternatively and which comprises individual springclutch means for controlling the operation of each of said.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSTillotson Nov. 1, 1921 Clow July 26, 1927 Moore Jan. 17, 1933 BrandtJune 14, 1955 Tomko et al May 16, 1961 Brandt Mar. 3, 1964

1. IN A FRAME SUPPORTED FABRIC KNITTING MACHINE; A CONSTANTLY ROTATABLECYLINDER EQUIPPED WITH RECIPROCABLE HOOKED NEEDLES; A CARDING HEADHAVING A LICKER-IN-ROLL, AND A ROTATABLE DOFFER ROLL, SAID DOFFER ROLLHAVING CLOTHING POSITIONED TO BE RAKED BY HOOKS OF SAID NEEDLES AND TORECEIVE FIBRES FROM SAID LICKER-IN ROLL; A PLURALITY OF FIBRE FEED MEANSPOSITIONED AT SPACED STATIONS PERIPHERALLY OF THE LICKER-IN ROLL FORFEED OF FIBRE THERETO; AND POWER CONNECTIONS FOR CONSTANT ROTATION OFTHE LICKER-IN ROLL, SAID POWER CONNECTIONS INCLUDING MEANS FOR DRIVINGTHE FIBRE FEED MEANS ALTERNATIVELY AND WHICH COMPRISES INDIVIDUAL SPRINGCLUTCH MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF EACH OF SAID